Birds Tell a Story
by MadokaKotone
Summary: TITLE CHANGE. Used to be called PLEASE SPEAK TO ME. Ichigo knew Rukia never really waited for him, but this was driving him crazy.
1. Thinking of Her

MadokaKotone: Now for my BLEACH story premier!!! Remember, I'm going to warn you; this is a FIRST. I'm new to BLEACH, too, so bear with me.

Madoka: Well, there's a first time for everything! (Cracks knuckles) Alright! Here we go!

Kotone: Do you really need a Disclaimer? For BLEACH nonetheless…

Madoka: Why would I own Bleach; it stains my clothes! (Light-bulb) Oh, wait!

**DISCLAIMER:** "Why would I own Bleach; it stains my clothes!" –Madoka.

Kotone: (Karin face) …That works I guess…

Madoka: On with the story!!!! Oh, the italicized part is a

**SUMMARITIC FLASHBACK… **

(if that's a word…well, whatever…)

_"No! Of course I don't like her, how would I possibly like someone like _her_? She's always with me, annoying me with her voice, and just plain--- _no_, I don't like her."_

_ Rukia heard his whole outburst, everything he said stained her heart black, they were boring through it with simple words… coming from a mere human nonetheless. She knew they were talking about her. That's when she shut the door and sunk back into the confinements of her, or Ichigo's, closet._

Chapter 1:

Truth and Consequence.

A stream of air burst into the bedroom through the opened window, caressing the face of a golden haired teen. As the air current swirled around his head it curled and twisted the goldenrod locks. He had a distant look on his face. _There she goes again, _he thought to himself, and frowned. _Not even waiting for me. _

She seemed to do that a lot lately; she would leap out the window before he protested, ignore his 'Wait!'s and 'Hold on!'s, and brushing him aside on school property. Sure, Rukia does that a whole lot, but she was driving him crazy at this point.

Ichigo grabbed his over-shirt off of his bed, chucked Kon in the closet, and headed towards the door, engulfed in his freight train of thoughts.

As he heavily thumped down the staircase, Ichigo ducked to see under the wall and into the kitchen. His two younger siblings came up to him. When he reached the bottom of the flight of stairs, one of them stuffed a plate of… something, in his face, smiling with bags under her shut eyes. It looked like soggy, meshed toast in raw egg with a bit of slimy sardines. When he eyed the sickly platter in front of his mouth, his eyes bulged._ Yuzu must've woken up a little late_. He scrunched up his nose and lifted his arms to guard his face in record time, "Y-Yuzu, What the heck is that?!"

Yuzu put on a pouty face, "Breakfast Ichigo," She then smiled sweetly. "Eat up!"

Karin then popped up behind her and made a hand gesture, catching Ichigo's attention; the finger-slitting-neck sign, A.K.A don't-even-whiff-it sign. He nodded slowly in return, and Yuzu swerved her head to observe Karin with saggy eyes. She only saw Karin's toothy fake-smile. The mother of the family sighed, "Whatever, but you'll be sorry you didn't eat this morning,"

Karin drawled with her usual face pasted back on, "He would've been sorry even if he did," she smirked, "Trust me, don't ever let Yuzu _try_ to cook; especially if she gets up late."

Yuzu frowned while her big brother chuckled, "Learn from experience?"

Karin suddenly gagged, cupped her mouth, and then nodded in approval. She said through her fingers, "Ohhhh, yeah," Then she sped towards the nearest bathroom.

Ichigo and Yuzu then looked at each other, shrugged, and then went separate ways; Ichigo to the front door and Yuzu to the trashcan to dump the vicious-looking clump of unknown substance away. It wouldn't budge even when she titled the plate upside-down, so she took a big fork and tried to pry it off.

Drip.

Drip.

Drip.

Yuzu's eyes magnified, and soon the bathroom was occupied by two.

The orange topped high-schooler walked down the sidewalk to school, staring only at the ground below him. He was thinking of Rukia again and how this was the fifth time that they haven't walked to school together that week.

He looked at the empty spot beside him, and half frowned/ half pouted.

There wasn't even a hollow to bring them back together in that same week, of all weeks to pick.

Ichigo then stopped to lean his head on a light-post to gaze up at the billowing huffs of cotton glaze over an endless azure road.

Then his stomach started to argue with him. He frowned and closed his eyes. _Why, of all days, did Yuzu try to make something other than toast?_

Carrot-head clutched his stomach, thoughts U-turning back to the only person that snoozed in his closet. At first, he thought she was just mad, pushing him away whenever he would ask to go wherever she was headed.

Then, her voice started to sound different to his ears; it sounded hollow, isolated, and maybe… remorseful? He thought about past conversations he had with her, thinking if he just needed to apologize to her for something that accidentally slipped out of his mouth.

Ichigo thought for a while, but nothing came to him, so he pushed off the pewter varnished light-post and went back to walking to his school. He whispered to himself, his voice mended into the breeze, "I wish you'd talk to me, Rukia,"

"Achoo!" Ichigo popped his head up.

Someone sneezed, he heard it.

He looked behind him, but there was no one.

He looked ahead, and there was Rukia, emerging from a corner about a hundred feet away. How he heard her sneeze, even he doesn't know. His eyebrows raised in realization.

Ichigo broke into a run. He was going to straighten things out with her right now.

Ichigo's yell was lifted by the spring breeze, "Rukia! Wait!" His carrot-colored spikes rising and falling in sync with his pace.

The raven-haired girl stopped in her tracks. _Ichigo… Please go away…_She then lowered her head and went back to sauntering along.

Ichigo raised an eyebrow, still dashing towards her, "Rukia! Rukia!"

_Why are you following me, Ichigo? _The girl just kept dragging her legs forward, though reluctantly. _I know you don't want to be seen with me anymore._

Ichigo had had enough, "RUKIA, STOP!" He finally caught up with the still lagging female and gripped her shoulder.

Her eyes clamped shut. _Ichigo!!!_

Roughly, but tenderly, he swung her around to face him. When he saw her face, his jaw dropped.

She was tearing; her orbs looked like glimmering pools of deep ocean water. They looked like rain puddles left on the deserted streets at midnight, with little white strips of captured moonlight jutting back and forth over the soft ripples. Rukia dared not to look up at the one person she was crying over.

Ichigo sympathetically loosened his grip on her small shoulder, and squeezed it gently,

Normally, he would brush off people's feelings, like he didn't really care about their life… 

But when he met Rukia… He started to change.

Ichigo gazed at her, "Hey, what's the matter?"

Rukia still didn't look up, or speak for that matter.

The naïve boy that seemed self-centered on the outside…felt different around Rukia.

Ichigo's hand squeezed more tightly, "Hey, look at me,"

Rukia kept silent.

He knew that deep down, out of all the people close to him, she was the one that he would do anything for. He would unquestionably suffer if she left his life again, which he knew he'd be expecting soon, but this was getting too unbearable for him.

Ichigo hand left her shoulder, and so did his warmth. Whatever she wanted to do was not his choice, but hers, and he respected that.

Rukia looked diagonally from where his hand was, and watched it fall back to his side while voicing her sorrowful thoughts, "Don't worry about me, I'll be fine, just go with Orihime and be happy,"

The high school boy didn't hear her however, because he spoke at the same time she did, just a bit louder, "Look, I know you're mad at me… I have no idea _why_-"

"-What?" Rukia looked up at him finally, confused at his statement.

He drowned in her twin pools of rippling cobalt. He tried to talk, but no words came out. She looked too vulnerable in this particular state.

He finally got it together and spoke to the girl beside him, "You're mad at me, I know,"

She blinked away her tears, shaking her shady head, "I'm not mad at you,"

He raised an eyebrow, "You're not?"

Rukia shook her raven-colored spikes again, "No. Why would you think that?" She then whipped her head left to right, inspecting the path. Suddenly she was pushing Ichigo to go ahead of her while trying to change the subject. She spoke hastily, "Ichigo, you heard me; don't worry about me. I'll be fine. Go with Orihime and be hap-"

He stopped, "-O-Orihime? Why would I be with her at this time?"

Rukia ceased shoving. It was her turn to raise a surprised eyebrow. Her words came out reluctantly, "Well… you like her, don't you?"

Ichigo's shoulders tensed, "Huh?! What the-?! Why in the world does everybody ask me that question? Last week Keigo asked me the same thing!"

Rukia froze, "H-he did?"

**To Be Continued…**

**(A/N:) Hey it's me again, hope it's not _that_ much of a cliffy… okay well, if it is **

**Gomen gomen!**

**Reviews are greatly appreciated if you feel like it!**

**Catch ya later (soon)!**

**R.E.**

**-P.S.- yeah, I know; I'm starting yet another story (slaps self) but I have ideas for this so this one shouldn't take that long.**


	2. What Rukia Saw

MadokaKotone: Oh yeah, second chapter! We won't disturb you this time, so read on!

Disclaimer: _Yes_, I love making fan fiction for something _I_ made when I can just make it real myself… haha, you know I'm kidding.

_ Rukia froze, "H-he did?"_

Chapter 2: What Rukia Saw

Rukia, glued to the ground, loosened her grip on Ichigo. Is that what she heard the other night? Those terrifying words that could melt ice were not for her? The shinigami needed to know the truth; this was getting unbearably miserable not being by Ichigo's side. That vacant spot beside her on the sidewalk going to school was getting to her head. Rukia looked away; whispering, seemingly to herself, "So… what did you say?"

-Ichigo's Situation-

The shinigami representative looked down at Rukia with a cocked eyebrow. She was barely gripping his over-shirt while looking at something in the distance, with her face having that same expression. Midget, according to Ichigo, obtained silence. Normally Rukia would bash him for an answer, whether it was very important or just plain irrelevant. Now, she had no sign of forcing a reply out of him. Rukia looked… depressed.

Ichigo sighed, he knew Rukia wouldn't like his answer; but, how else would he be able to talk to her? Being together again, even like this, was enough for him, "Because I've missed you,"

"What?"

Strawberry panicked. He quickly replied while waving his hands in the air, "Uhh, betsuni, betsuni! Heh heh heeeh," …then she smacked himself. _Aww, did I just say that freakin' out loud? Baka Ichigo, blurting things out like a dang hose. You know she doesn't like you so get over it already!_

"I wish she did," Ichigo clamped his mouth shut and turned around before Rukia could see his face; he was blushing like a paranoid schoolgirl. He acted like it, too. _Aww, ----_He imagined Kon in his head, lecturing him to no end. He would say: _AH! Bakabakaba-kaaaa Ichigo! You freakin' sucker! How in the world did that pop out of your mouth? Oi, just how are you going to get out of this one, huh?_ Ichigo, not paying any attention to the Chappy-lover behind his back, scowled and rolled his eyes. _Now I'm thinking like Kon?_

-Rukia's Situation-

Rukia stood there, looking at a white bird diving into emerald leaves on a tree. The leaves quaked and, in a slinky-like pattern, ruffled from vibrations from the bird's wings. The bird didn't care if the leaves were disturbed, though, because it swooped onto a branch next to another bird, and cuddled against it.

Just then, she heard the boy beside her mutter something like, "Because I've m---- you,"

Rukia cocked an eyebrow, she didn't really catch what he said, "What?"

Ichigo waved his hands in the air like a maniac while stuttering, "Betsuni, Betsuni!" …Then he smacked himself.

Rukia sweat dropped, _What__ a weirdo… but…that what I've been missing. _She smiled to herself as she looked back to her birds, fully forgetting how and why she came to be here with Ichigo again.

When the wind picked up, the leaves swayed around them, then one of the birds fluttered it's wings, imposing to take off. The other bird stopped it with its beak; the one that just landed on the branch. Rukia slowly opened her mouth, engulf in watching how the birds acted. Just then, the white bird that fluttered its wings, tried to shoo the outsider away. It was a failed attempt, though, because the other wouldn't budge.

To her right, Rukia heard a murmured, "I wish she did," and she slowly rotated her head. _…She? Who's she? _

All she saw was Ichigo bent over, arms folded. She sighed, _It__ had to be Orihime. _

Eyes back to the birds, she thought to herself, _Why__ do I feel this way?_

Still, the bird did not move.

Rukia started to sulk,she held her hand up to her heart, _This… feeling in my chest…is scaring me._

The other bird then tried to force it out, nudging it to the edge of the branch.

Tears threatened to fall, _Those__ birds... I've been pushing Ichigo away… In the Soul Society… and now in the real world…_

Giving up, the bird just hopped in the opposite direction, with the other close behind it.

_All he wanted to do was protect me… but… I pushed him away… and now…_

Seeing that the bird was unwanted, it slowly hopped away from the other, and swooped out of the branch.

Little drops started to stain the sidewalk as Rukia concluded, _He's left me… I did it for you Ichigo. We're not supposed to be together, it's for our own good._

-Ichigo's Situation-

Ichigo took a deep breath; he was going to tell Rukia what he said_, I don't care if you don't like me back, but you need to know the truth. _He turned around, "Okay, I saaa…"

Rukia was crying. Carrot-top gaped, and followed her line of vision to a tree in the distance. All he saw was a bird swoop out of a tree. He cocked an eyebrow, _What__ does she see? There's nothing over there._

With his usual frown on, he turned back to Rukia; but she just ran past him, tears askew, and whispered in his ear, "Gomen nasai, Ichigo!"

Kurosaki swerved his head towards her back. He called to her; she wasn't getting away this time, not without knowing the truth, "Rukia! Rukia!"

-In the Classroom-

"AIYAAA!!! ICHIGO?! WHERE ART THOU ICHIGOOOO?!?!" Keigo's words hammered away at his unfortunate classmates who stood beside him, either clutching their hair or covering their sorry ears.

Mizuiro sighed, and flipped open his phone, "Probably hiding from you… Asano-san,"

"AYIIII, AGAIN WITH THE WELL-MANNERED WORDS!!! I CAN"T TAKE IT ANYMORE!!!" Keigo grabbed a desk and lifted it above his ruffled-out hair, "I'M SO GONNA POUND ICHIGO WHEN HE GETS HERE, THAT LAZY DOG! AND WHAT'S WORSE IS THAT HE'SPROBABLYGOTKUCHIKI-SANWITHHIMTOO-"

"URUSAI, BAKA!" Tatsuki pounded him on the head, forcing him to let go of the desk he was clutching… allowing it to fall on his bashed head.

All you saw was Asano's limbs flailing everywhere, "I-i-i…itai. Tatsuki-san… so harsh…"

The tomboy scoffed, "Not to everyone; just to losers like you," She then heard a sighed escape Inoue's lips from behind her. She turned around and put a hand on her shoulder, "Orihime, daijoubo ka?"

Inoue nodded and smiled; trying to mask her disappoint as to why her Kurosaki-kun and Kuchiki-san were not present. She then tried to make an excuse with the hands motions and everything, "Of course, Tatsuki-chan! I made a special deluxe meal today! …But… I left it at the house… so I sent some invisible robotic soldiers with wings to pick it up for me!"

She then put a finger to her mouth, supposedly thinking of what to say next, while Tatsuki sweat-dropped (a big one), "Oh, yeah! But the rain from yesterday dripped off some buildings and onto them, so they stopped and rusted in mid-air… So," She beamed at her confuzzled friend, "So no fish-in-red-bean-paste-on-buttered-toast-with-a-dash-of-sugar-and-pepper-and-salt-drizzled-in-wasabi-and-honey-mustard for me today! Aheehee!"

Everyone around Orihime heard her last statement, and sweat-dropped. Some held their mouth, while others high-tailed it towards the window. Chad turned away from his desk (he was supposed to write on that thing, he didn't want to ruin it), Keigo blinked, Mizuiro coughed, Ishida picked himself with a knitting needle and cursed, and Asagawa struggled to keep a smile on her face without gagging.

"O-oh… if that's what really happened, Ori-chan…" Orihime's tomboy friend scratched her head. _I don't know _what_ goes on in this girl's head._

-School Grounds-

Ichigo was getting frustrated; Rukia would not yield to him no matter how hard he yelled at her. He's been attempting to chase her down for about twelve blocks now; she was almost to the front of the school. The boy was startling orange hair huffed as he was about to give up on catching that little shinigami that's been driving him to the point of insanity, when he almost collided into her. Ichigo was so engulfed in his thoughts that he didn't notice that Rukia stopped to look up at their homeroom window. Strawberry-boy cocked an eyebrow and peered up to see what caught Kuchiki's attention.

What he saw was something sickening and horrifying at the same time: barf cascading out of his classroom's window like a brown waterfall. Ichigo covered his mouth, wide-eyed. Suddenly Rukia caught his arm and frowned, still observing the window.

Kurosaki flashed his eyes at her, "Is it a hollow?"

Rukia, not taking sight off the seemingly flowing puke, shook her head, "I don't know; I didn't sense anything coming from the school,"

"Yeah," Ichigo concluded. He kept looking at the midget's face; it looked like she was entranced. Carrot-head had to ask, "Oi, how can you still be looking at that?"

The raven-haired girl shrugged, "It's not something you see everyday, that's all," In an instant she grabbed Ichigo's arm and headed towards the door, "Now come on; you're late for class,"

"You are, too!"

"Tch, Like it matters. Hurry up, slowpoke, I know you've been waiting to see your Orihime-chan!" she teased in her fake voice, tearing at her own heartstrings. Mine as well make the best of her time left in the real world. She concluded being with Ichigo was enough for her, even if it was only to make him mad. Rukia didn't look at the confused-looking Ichigo waddling behind her, instead she gripped the door to the classroom to slide open the door. The classroom was nearly all cleaned up when they got there.

_I love you, Ichigo, but…_

Rukia let go of him and he motioned a 'what happened?' sign to his friends, who replied with a neck-slit. He nodded as the Chappy-fan slinked to her desk; trying to avoid the slippery spots next to the pylon cones scattered around the classroom. She put her bag down and apologized to the teacher for the both of them, "Gomen nasai, sensei. Ichigo and I had to help a pedestrian cross the street, but then she-"

"It's ok, Kuchiki, just sit in your seat so we can resume,"

"Ah…hai," she looked at Ichigo. Already in his seat, he frowned at her. In her gigai, she swerved back to the board.

_I know you don't love me back._

Rukia peered down at her desk and sighed.

_Sorry if I've been a hassle to you all this time, I just couldn't leave._

Looking up blankly at the board, she reminisced of all the things she and Ichigo have gone through together; the hollow attacks, the training, the search and rescues, and everything in between all through the class period. The vertically-challenged girl sat still the whole class period, her expression glazed. Rukia was the only one in the room oblivious to the fact that the stench of… something, hung in the air.

_I don't have much time left here, so I'm hoping for the best; for you… and Orihime._

Rukia then thought back to the mornings events, and remembered what she was doing hanging around with Strawberry. All she did was ask him a question about Inoue and he went berserk. It was then when she remembered herself spacing out. Rukia was thinking about that night she overheard Ichigo talking to supposedly Keigo, when she heard the droning vibrations of the school bell.

_I don't know what you said back there, but I know what you said about me._

That made Kuchiki-san sulk; she knew he didn't like her already, but wasn't that a little harsh? It was certainly colder than her zanpaku-to could ever get. Somehow, her thoughts wandered to the bird interaction she witnessed that day. Rukia's eyes showed a glint of understanding as she gripped her bag resting on her knees, not on the floor.

_Don't worry, I understand now,_

Rukia, for some unknown reason: instead of heading towards the door, waited for everyone to leave the classroom. Not knowing that Ichigo was waiting for her at the door, she shuffled towards the window, sliding her finger reluctantly against the desks surface. Taking in the classroom, she felt as if she was not needed there anymore, like she was just the new girl no one gave time to get to know. Memorizing every detail she could: from the direction the desks faced, the way the sunlight outlined the rims of the rectangular seating places, to every stubborn little smear on the chalkboard that wouldn't succumb to the devastating tactics of a thing she recently learned called an eraser.

_I understand… that I don't belong here. _

The broken-hearted shinigami flung open the window with a tear-stained hand and was about to escape when shaken fingers loosely held hers.

"Who said you could leave, Midget?"

_Ichigo._

**To be Continued…**

**(A/N:) Aha… I feel so evil right now, leaving you with that… but I promise it will be here soon! I'm doing this story now because all the others are on a different PC that's not in use yet so… yup!**

**Like I said; review if you feel like it. I just hope this story's pretty good for a premier (1st fic on different topic)**

**If you didn't get the bird/bird thing, tell me and I'll e-mail you what it meant. I tried to keep it as understanding as possible.**

**Ja**** na,**

**R.E.**


	3. Same Difference

MadokaKotone: Wow, the last chapter already. I told you this one wouldn't take that long. Anyways, no interruptions for this story, really sorry about the cliffhanger. Oh, but the first part is a flashback of some events leading to the cliffhanger. Enjoy! XD

Disclaimer: Let's just say if I _did_ own BLEACH, I would not have a _fan_fiction account.

Chapter 3: Same Difference

-Flashback-

Technicolor rockets zoomed passed him, shooting down the opposite way. People swerved their heads to-and-fro to witness a teenage boy by the name of Kurosaki Ichigo chasing a vertically-challenged girl down the sidewalks of Karakura. The boy paid no attention to the ruckus he was creating though (pushing and shoving innocent bystanders, knocking over a child's sherbet ice cream they got two seconds earlier, Ect.); his focus was only on Death (ironically…).

Suddenly he saw her turn and dive into a crowd jaywalking across an intersection. _You're not getting away this time, Rukia!_

Rukia took this as an advantage, seeing that she was so short she could disappear in no time. Interrupting her plan, though, was an old lady with a silver cane, flashing in the sunlight, dangerously passing the street behind the crowd. The shinigami glanced at the blinking red hand signaling to evacuate the street, then to the crossing guard on the opposite side of the road; he was puffing his whistle at the lady with all his might, but to no avail. Rukia swerved in a semi-circle and called to Ichigo, a few feet away, "Ichigo, over there!"

Strawberry cocked an eyebrow, and was about to ignore the midget's calling; but something told him that he should definitely turn around. When he saw Rukia already rushing to the elder, he gaped and followed suit, "Rukia, hang on!"

Ichigo ran as fast he could to their side, and he helped Rukia get the lady across. The elderly woman dropped her cane in the process though, so slowly; she bent down pick it up. Ichigo looked at Rukia, and they both nodded.

The next thing you saw, if you were at that intersection, was two teenagers in school uniform running to the sidewalk with a horrified old lady in tow, carrying her like people would a rolled-up rug.

When the Dynamic Duo got their elder to the curb, they shimmied her down to the ground slowly. As soon as her feet skimmed the rough surface of cement, she whirled around and swapped Ichigo upside the head screaming, "Let go of me! Let go, I said!!!"

He who protects flinched at her cane whipping his goldenrod head, "Oi---ow!--- Matte---ow!!! Ru-" When he turned around, Rukia was already bolting down the street, dust shooting out from her school shoes, "OI! RUKIA!" Trying to calm down the savage, old lady; he waved his hands and backed away as fast as he could to catch up to Kon's "nee-san".

Everything after that to the waterfall of puke Ichigo couldn't remember; the scenery appeared as a blur as he raced down the path to his school. When Kurosaki got to school everything from there was a blur because of Ms. Shinigami dragging him like a child would a blanket. That was giving him a major migraine.

So, when Rukia finally let carrot-top go, the ranking smell of waste entered his nose; which was a huge help to his headache. Ichigo just had to ask Keigo what happened, but he got a bad response. The smell lingering in the classroom was now nagging at Kurosaki's head, so he sat down with irritation plastered on his face. While Rukia gave their sensei an excuse as to why they were intolerably late, he closed his eyes and frowned. _That's not the whole story…_ Her words bounced around in Ichigo's head, which made the headache miserable.

Strawberry frowned at Rukia for doing that, but after she looked at him; he quickly regretted it. His favorite shinigami looked sad when she turned around to plop in her desk. All during class, in fact, she was sulking instead of using that fake Chappy-happy attitude she acted out. Ichigo was keeping an eye out for her during the whole class period, so he didn't move.

When he heard the bell ring Ichigo sauntered towards the door, but he stayed behind while the rest of the class filed out. Waiting for Rukia to emerge, he stood leaning against the entrance; whistling a tune.

After a few moments, Fate grabbed his head and forced him to turn around to into the doorway. Ichigo peered in and saw Rukia tracing his desk with her index finger, her eyes fighting back tears. Deciding to watch further, he watched her scan the classroom with midnight sky orbs. That's when he saw her gigai head towards the window, and he dashed in. Closing in just in time, Ichigo clasped her hand in his as the window flew open, the breeze ruffling raven and ginger-toned locks in slow motion.

That's how they got to this position.

-Present-

Rukia froze, perched on the windowsill like a gargoyle atop a chapel. Her hand clenched in Ichigo's grasp. Eyes shut with fear… or was it relief? ...Awaiting his next move.

Kurosaki, on the other hand, was the exact opposite of frozen; every single muscle in his body flexed and deflexed, while every inch of his skin reverberated and came out in the form of Goosebumps. Emotional-fueled reiatsu leaked out of his body and shrouded the classroom with cerulean flames. In short; he has had enough of this. Whether Rukia wants to know the truth or not, she's not leaving his sight until he tells her everything.

Even so, Ichigo's raging emotions didn't melt Rukia's exterior; she showed no signs of movement whatsoever.

"Why… Why are you doing this?"

Silence.

"You don't know what you're doing!"

Rukia flashed open her violet-blue eyes.

"Don't leave me!"

Kuchiki's eyes magnified at this statement. Slowly she turned around, and all Ichigo saw were those same puddles he saw this morning. Rukia was fully facing him now, and his anger simmered a little. She turned away to face the blackboard, "Ichigo, you know I have to go,"

"No," Ichigo violent shook his head, "You can stay with me, Chad, Inoue… Ishida; all of us! You're not leaving!"

Shinigami eyes turned towards him, "Ichigo! … I can't. What do you care anyway, you've Orihime!"

"Would you just _quit _with the Orihime nonsense?!" Ichigo gripped Rukia's wrist hard, but she didn't seem to feel it.

Rukia had to do this, she and Ichigo could never be together; they both knew that. She frowned at him, "You two were meant for each other! You and I… we're---"

"We're what?"

Rukia bit her lip and murmured, "We're different,"

Ichigo, frustrated, tightened his other fist, "What?"

"We're different, Ichigo, we're different!" It seemed like some of Kurosaki's reiatsu poured into her.

He growled, "Like heck we're different; I'm no midget!"

Something in Rukia's chest exploded, and she winced; his words cut deep, even though it was her fault. The midget-thing she got over, though. It was how he actually agreed with her. It pained Kuchiki to go on, but she had to for the sake of her forbidden lover, "No, not _that_ kind of different!" Keeping up this act was excruciatingly hard, "You don't like juice for one thing,"

Ichigo frowned, taunting her to go on.

"You hate it when we hang out with our friends,"

Scowl.

"You just take heart in arguing with me ever since the day we met,"

A scoff lurched out of his mouth and it was his turn to face the chalkboard.

Rukia couldn't take this anymore; she yanked her hand out of Ichigo's curled fingers and grabbed his collar; saying the first thing that came to her mind, "And I'm the one in love with a living human!" She cupped her mouth; Rukia Kuchiki did not mean to say that, Fate pulled it out like a silk ribbon.

Ichigo's eyes widened, but he smirked soon afterwards, "Well well well," he then held her chin up to face him after she lowered it in embarrassment, "You're right; we are different Ms. Rukia,"

Unable to speak, she could only look at him with daydreamer-eyes.

"You know why?" Ichigo smirked again. For effect, he decided to hold that question up in the air.

Rukia gulped, _Ichigo, you're going to say it, _She knew it was coming; he was going to tell her he didn't like her back, _Finally, he's going to tell me the truth. Rukia, show no signs of weakness, whatsoever. You've cried enough for today to last an afterlife-time. _Ichigo's mouth opened, his pink tongue showing.

"I don't like juice… but I like watching you fumble with the straw,"

The girl could only gape, did he really mean that?

Kurosaki held her hand again, and gently pried it from his collar, "I hate hanging out with our friends because I like it when it's just us,"

Kuchiki's heart was pumping.

"Arguing with you was just a way to mask my real feelings… and it's fun making you mad,"

It was her turn to scoff.

"But…" Ichigo sighed and firmly gripped her hand, "Since you barely have time here, you have to know the truth…" He readied himself, but since she confessed first; that made it much easier, "While _you're_ in love with some _living human_…" Strawberry closed in next to Rukia's ear and tenderly whispered, his reiatsu burned out entirely, "_I'm_ in love with a _shinigami_,"

Shock took over her body, shooting chilled joy throughout her entire gigai. Her knees buckled from underneath her even though she was still perched on the windowsill. Her eyes magnified little indigo spheres while her muscles flexed involuntarily. For once… Death's exterior crumbled down into Nothingness from hearing the ethereal lullaby of Life called Love.

Ichigo pulled away and locked eyes with Rukia's shocked ones. He stared hard and looked Death in the eye, reading the secrets of its ways by boring into it's soul, "If you want to leave," Kurosaki pointed to the illuminated glass windows with a finger, "Than go now,"

They stayed like that for some time, than the midget slowly got down from the windowpane; still keeping her gaze locked with Ichigo's. Kuchiki's voice came out shaken and stirred, "Those things you said back there… are they true?"

Ichigo didn't have to think twice about his answer, "Every word, Rukia Kuchiki,"

As soon as he confessed it all, the shinigami enveloped Ichigo in a tender hug, crying sweet tears of joy in his chest. Ichigo threw his hands in the air momentarily after she did that, but soon after he smiled and returned the loving favor. Rukia cried out in muffled words to him, "I'm sorry Ichigo!"

"Hey," Kurosaki lifted her chin up and closed in beside her ear once again, "I'll forgive you, but only on one condition,"

Rukia's profile lit up, "What's that, Ichigo--"

"—Wait, make that two conditions,"

"Oh… okay," Kuchiki gulped when she saw her lover flash a smirk at her.

After a long intake a silence, Ichigo spoke up, still grasping her chin in his left hand, "…You can't leave me, Kuchiki Rukia,"

Rukia grasped Carrot-top's hand, "Ichigo…" She looked down as he frowned in disappointment. Then, seeing that she teased the son of Isshin Kurosaki, she lifted her head back up with a slight jerk and laughed, "Who ever said I was leaving?"

Seeing Ichigo's expression fueled her gigai to laugh, and Ichigo soon followed suit. For once they weren't arguing with each other, they didn't need to mask their feelings for one another anymore. They both felt as if a huge weight was lifted off their shoulders, and found out that laughter was the remedy for melancholy. Rukia then remembered that she still had another condition to fulfill, "Oh, Ichigo, about that second con--"

Swooping in like a bird, his lips meshed with hers. Instantaneously Rukia closed her eyes and her hand instinctively grabbed the back of his neck. After a while, though, they had to stop to breathe, and that's when Kurosaki huffed, "Okay, I forgive you,"

Laughter filled the vacant classroom once again, filling it with a carefree passion. 

Ichigo took Rukia's hand in his, and they started for the door.

Kurosaki Ichigo learned some things that day:

The short shinigami then stopped in her tracks, and Ichigo turned around with a look of confusion. She jerked her thumb back towards the open window.

Sometimes you get yourself down,

Ichigo smirked at her, and they ran towards the window. When they got there, though, Rukia pointed to a nearby tree and said, "Look!"

Other times you feel like giving up,

All the shinigami representative saw was a lone bird perched in a big, sakura tree swaying in the swift spring breeze; while tickle-me-pink petals danced and swirled in the sun's goldenrod rays.

But Ichigo didn't have to worry about depressing things like that,

Looking closer, two pairs of eyes from a classroom window saw another bird swooping up to the branch, alighting right next to the other one, caressing it with its feathery, sallow head. Ichigo looked at Rukia, and then they both leaped out of the window and dashed off school grounds, not knowing that Chad, Inoue, Tatsuki, Mizuiro, a wailing Keigo, and even Ishida were watching them race off school property like lunatics.

He didn't care at all; as long as Death was by his side, he was happy.

_The End… for now._

**Owari****… Wait, that's the end, already?!**

**(A/N:) Wow, shortest chapter story I've written… And the first one I finished, too! YOSH! **

**I've said it before, review if you think it's necessary! I would like to know what you thought about it. It's my Bleach premier, so I want to know if I should conjure up another Bleach story.**

**If you didn't like it, I'm sorry if I wasted your time!**

**Ja**** na for now!**

**R.E.**

**P.S. - Oh, yeah, about the underlined words, they were supposedly said by Orihime.**


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